Combined instrument-board and gas-tank construction



Jul 17,1928. N 1,677,279 H. FORD- I COMBINED INSTRUMENT BOARD AND GAS TANK CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet '1 AIVENT R Jul 17, 1928.

, TANK CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR TTORNEY July'17, 192s. 1,6772% H. FORD COMBINED INSTRUMENT BOARD AND GA$ TANK CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 14, 1927 3 sheets-sheet 5 IN VEN TOR.

Patented July 1?, i928.

mm a, Wa s w- 3 HENRY roan, on nnaaiaoan, MICHIGAN.

COMBINED iusraniltnnr-iaoann AND. GAS-TANK CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed February 14, 1927. Serial No. 167,912.

on the instrument board or between the latter and the gasoline tank. It will be understood that this construction is particularly adapted for vehicles having the gasoline tank mounted near the top of the cowl in,

the body. I I

Still a'further object of my invention is to provide such a construction wherein the in strument board maybe apertured to diselose an instrumentmounted on the rear wall of the gasoline tank.

Still a turther'object of myinvention is to provide a cowl gasoline tank having a conduit disposed along the lower surface thereof for housing the wiring and connections for the instruments on the instrument board. in combination with an instrument board adapted to be supported by the rear .wall, of the gasoline tank and shaped to coact with the conduit to form a finished structure which is easily installed or disassembled. i v

Still a further object of my invent on s to provide a cowl gasoline tank with an instrument board which is in the form of a shell which may fit against the rear snrtace ot' the gasoline tank LO thereby form with the wall of the gasoline tank a substantially closed chamber for the instruments associated therewith, and to so arrange the instruments on the instrument board that they may be grouped around and lighted by a single dash light located centrally on the instrument board.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide in combination with a cowl, incl tank, and an instrument board, a gasoline gage mounting whereby comblned fittings may be used for securing the gage and. 1nstrument board to the rear wall of the tank.

With these and other objects in View, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and construction of the various parts of myimproved device, as described in the specifications, claimed in the claims, and i llustrated in the accompanying drawings in which i 1 shows a perspectiveview of a vehicle body, havmg my improved cowl fuel tank and instrument board mounted thereon. I

Fig. 2 is a front. elevation of the parts shown in Fig. l.

Fig; 3 shows avertical longitudinal sectional. view through the combined instrument board and gasoline tank assembly,

taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows a horizontal sectional View taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2. 1

Fig. -5 shows a sectional view taken on the line 55, of Figure 2, and i I Fig. 6 shows a horizontal sectional View taken on line 66 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the accompanying drawings I have used thereference numeral 10 to indicate-generally the hood ofthe vehicle body having the cowl 11. The body is also provided with a dash 12 and floor boards 18. A steering column 14 and a chokeirod and carburetor adjusting device 15 are also illustrated. These parts are "of ordinary construction in connection with a vehicle body and are illustrated herein to'more clearly illustrate the construction and function of my improved dash tank and instrument board.

Thodash tank which I have herein illustrated consists of two members. of which the cowl 11 is the upper member and the lower member 16 is shaped sothat whenits edges are united with the proper parts of the cowl to receive the wires and speedometer cablev from instrument board and protect and con ceal them'until they reach a position adja cent to the dash 12, through whichthey may be extended. I

The instrument board proper consists of a shell of sheet metal 22 which is substantially rectangular in outline, although the corners are round and the intermediate portions are curved to give it an artistic configuration. The upper corner is alsoshortened or cut .2.6.1 The instrument board 22 is provided of the gasolinetankwto thereby form with chamber.

the gasoline tank a substantially closed The lower corner ot ,the instrn:

' ment board 22 is shaped to co-act with the 24 which may 7 containing the switch lights for the motor vehicle.

wall of the gasoline tank and the conduit 21 so that'the enclosure is not substantially brokemat theirumeotingpoint. This is .accomplished by shaping the; flange 23 so that it will slide over the rear end of the conduit 21 (-as is illustrated inliig. when the in strument board; is; installed. Mounted on this;-instrument board is an ignition switch of course alsoabe of the type1 iffor botlrignition and The construc tlOl'l Of'lthlS switch isnot hereillustrated aS the manner of constructing same and mmmt v ing it on an: instrument board iswell known. Switch 24 is preferably mounted at the lett band corner-of the instrument board.

At the: right hand eorner'of the instrument beard anlannmeter 25} is mounted in the nianner iimvliicli such instruments are usual- 1y 'rnountedon aninstrumentboard.

Referring further 1 to the construction of the gasoline gage thathasheret-ofore been mentioned, it will beseen; that a vframe memend' of the arm 18 aperture? 281 between the 29 "is formed. integral her '26 which 31s preferably a diecasting, is sealed into an opening in the irearwallw16,

of the' gasoline tank-,thisiirame being pro videdwithza'pair o-fiintegral forward y ex:- tending ears 27 designed to form a pivotal support'for the arm 18, The indicatingdevice 19.1is-pivotally mountedon the upper;

and extends through i an ears 27 V of the frame ar rearwardly extending flange 1y with the iframe 26 so that the rear 'lace'ot the frame 26 forms;

. This with an intern a1 three d 30.,

26. Au: annul recess is formed havinga *purpose which will hereinafter be i dicating strip 19 described.

in this recess iuthev Disposed designed to support frame 26 is a disc 31 the gage glass 20 which has hereto'liorebeen mentioned; 4\ liquid tight gasket 32 is provided between the dises;31. and glass 20 The disc 31 has an annularly rearwardly eX- tendingexteriorly thrcaded flange 33 near its edges whichuserves toprevent lateral. or. vertical displacementofthe glass 20, Rear wardly'otntheglass 20 is a disc .34 upon which indicating characters may,be.,im-

pressed or pointers provided so'that1 the'inmay coact with the recessin said disc :34 to 'indicate the amount of f uel in the gasoline tank.- A bezel 350i channel cross section has the outer portion thereof internallythreaded to coact with the threads of the flanger33 on the. disc 31,so that this 7 bezel may be screwed down on to the said press the inner edge of the flange to thereby disc 34 thereby squeezing bezel against the with an opening uid tight joint igoingsitiwi ll be designed This head is provid the'disc 34 against the glass 20 and the latter flange 29 ot the 36 is provided with a shoulder 37 whi'ch presses against 't hev edge of the opening in the immanent-board22 to press the latter ra 'ainst the flange 29 of the frame 26 there by locking the fupper portion of the "iiis tru ment board against the frame 26and 'conse quently to "the The threaded' tendsv forwardly theperiphery of I bezel 33 7 so that v the bezel 3 6 may press 'o rtion, ofthe; bezel 3616K! rear wall of the f ntasia far enough to Contact with the discgl outside or the again-stthe disc 31therebycoinpress ng a gasketfi against theiirame 26 so that a liq may be formed between the u v V v 7 f. trame 26 and the disc ,31. From the fore seen that the bezel 36 serves to secure the instrument :bdard '22 to the rearwall of the gas tank andalso to secure in thecgage h v. i ,i

The ZIISl 'IUXDQQt board 22 1s provlded with .and seal the gage glass assembly in place an opening within the lower corner there/oh to. receive speedometer head 89.

tion 40,. designed to extendth'ru the opening in the instrnrnent'board 22 so that the speedometer may be, read from the rear of the instrun'ientboard, A ring'43 under the in strument board surrounds the speedometer opening and has a flange thereon "which 'is' turned over the edge of this opening to form a garnislrioritlie cdgeand to support the ring. 43 from the instrument board 22. This ring is provided with a plurality of. laterally.extending ears 45 which have open ings therein designed to receive bolts 46. The speedometer head is provided witlrcorresponding ears I 47" through [which these bolts 46 ,pass whereby the bolts' lti may draw thespeedon etei." lieadlgSl against the rear surface ofthe instrun' enl board 22 to thereby lock the speedometer head in' place. .Il: will thus be seen that the speedometer hea d is supported from the instrument board.

As has heretofore been noted, the instruiuent board;22" is" proyidedfwith flange 23 V gripped; between thelflange23 and the clips 49. These clips 49 are provided with threaded openings so that screws 51 be extended through the flange 23 to draw the body portion of the clip 49 toward the 'pacedclips '49 are welded as is secured to the instrument board.

flange 23, thereby causing a positive connection between the flanges 23 and 48 and the clips 49. i i 7 At approximately the center of the instrument board 22 a dash light having a base 52 A de tachable glare shield 53 of substantially cylindrical form but having" one end closed is mounted on the base 52 in any suitable .manner as by frictional engagement thereshield and reflected from the inner concave side of the shield, to escape and illuminate only the instrument board. In this connection attention is directed to the fact that beams of light have not been directed upwardly heretofore in connection with dash lights because a dazzling beam would be reflected into the drivers eyes unless the graduated type of opening which I have here provided is used.

Among the many advantages arising from the use of my improved device it should be first pointed out that I have provided a compact structure which is adapted for use with a cowl fuel tank and which eliminates the necessity for an instrument board which GX-' tends entirely across the vehicle. Further, accessibility of the instruments and their mounting on the instrument board are enhanced as adjustment or rcplacen'ient may be made by simply unscrewing the bezel 36 and screws 51 which permit the instrument board to be pulled rearwardly thereby exposing the rear face thereof, and gives access to all the instruments thereon. Further I have devised an instrument board construction permitting all of the instrumentsv to be grouped around a central dash light, which economizes space and improves illumination.

Further I have provided a construction where the rear wall of the cowl gasoline tank provides the support for the instrument board, and the instruments thereon, whereby the efficiency is increased and. the cost less ened.

Some changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and combination of v the various parts of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my 1nvention, and itis my intention to cover by my claims such changes as may reasonably be included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a combined instrument board and cowl fuel tank construction, a tank having a recess in its rear wall, and an instrument board having a peripheral flange adapted to co-act with the rear wall of the gasoline tank adjacent to said recess to form a chamberwhereby an instrument may be mounted in said chamber. V

2. In a device of the character described, a cowl fuel tank having a rear wall and a bottom wall, a member secured to the lower wall of the gasoline tank and adapted to form a conduit, and an instrument board having a peripheral flange adapted to co-act with the rear wall of the gasoline tank and the rear end of the said conduit member to form an enclosed chamber for the mstruments on the instrument board and to form a concealing and protecting "conduit for the structures which connect with the instruments. 7 y

3. In a combined cowl fuel tank and instrument board construction, a fuel tank having an opening in its rear wall, an indicating instrument mounted in said opening, and an instrument board adapted to be secured to the rear wall of said fuel tank and having an opening therein designed to register with the indicating portion of said indi Y eating instrument.

4. In a device of thecharacter described, a cowl, a fuel tank having a rear wall, an instrument mounted on said wall of the gaso line fuel tank, said instrument having a glass receiving recess therein and a glass therefor, and an instrument board having a periph eral flange and an opening therethrongh, whereby the instrument board and flange may form with the rear wall of the gasoline tank an instrument enclosing chamber and the opening may register with the instrument, a combined means for securing the gage glass and instrument board in place.

HENRY FORD. 

